WingNut722

@habsguy26 I agree that Lundqvist will probably get it, but I'm not so sure about the Hart trophy. Henrik Sedin is more likely.

How long until this guy can just fade away like a fart in the wind?

Bryzgalov? The 60 Billion Dollar Man? He could get the Vezina as soon as he lands either a Nike or a Wheaties contract!

Thanks, Jammer :-)

Originally, I was going to write an all-out campaign piece for Jimmy Howard’s place in the All-Star game as well as Vezina trophy consideration, but it’s a little ironic that he had one of his, well, less-favorable performances against the Dallas Stars last night. He came away with the “W,” but I’m sure he’s not all that proud of it. Everyone’s entitled to an “off” night and last night certainly seemed like Jimmy’s turn. Thankfully, the forward lines were all clicking, and Detroit never relinquished control of the game. It’s only fair. After all, Howard has bailed out his skaters more than once with some incredible goaltending, and his name still remains super-glued to the leaderboards in just about every category. I can appreciate that the All-Star ballot was arranged very early in the season, but Top Jimmy’s performance has warranted him a spot (and pretty close to it, with all the write-ins). I doubt very much they’ll pass him by again next year. But on to the more controversial topic… Should Jimmy Howard be considered for the Vezina Trophy? Defined by the NHL as the goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position”, it would seem that the Vezina Trophy winner would be the netminder with the highest save percentage and lowest Goals Against Average. This would determine the winner almost automatically, like the Rocket Richard Trophy, but the award is voted on by the thirty club GMs, so the visible, on-ice effort is also taken into consideration. The statistics are obviously a big part of the decision, but consider these other factors… -Can you elevate your game when your forwards aren’t scoring? -Can you sustain your mental stamina when taking upwards of 40 shots per night? -Can you remain strong after letting in a number of goals? -Can you regain your toughness after letting in goals and allowing your opponent to lead? -Do you still manage to be the winning goaltender when your team’s score is only 1 or 2? -Can you do all of the above within your opponents home arena? Vezina buzz of late is typically centered around Henrik Lundqvist and the perennial favorite, Tim Thomas. But I say that Jimmy Howard should also be in that conversation. As of right now, January 4, 2012, here are my Vezina Trophy finalists (in no particular order) Jimmy Howard Henrik Lundqvist Brian Elliot Why no Thomas? He’s a stellar goaltender and I love watching him play. But the Bruins have been a scoring machine lately, and he hasn’t necessarily HAD to be all those things I mentioned above. Plus, he has split the load a little more evenly with Tuuka Rassk. It’s a VERY close call to be sure, between Thomas and King Henrik, and their numbers are almost identical. However, I fully believe both Howard and Elliot should be on there, and that leaves only one spot. Overall, Lundqvist has shouldered the load that much better. The floor is now open. What say you?

Good Lord........... That's really funny! And that's the absolute worst sweater in the world on Frolik! :-)

It’s been a long time since I posted anything (which is to say it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to watch a Red Wings game in its entirety). Ironically enough, the last game I was able to watch was December 6 at St. Louis. It appears the tables have turned in the steadily-heating rivalry against the St. Louis Blues with the Wings taking this battle 3-2. Make no mistake, this was a huge, hard-fought game on both sides. Everybody on both benches had something to prove here. The Blues skaters want to prove they can dominate the mighty Red Wings. The Detroit skaters want to prove they still have what it takes to hold off a tough opponent and continue their at-home win streak. Ken Hitchcock wants to continue his successful resurrection efforts and Mike Babcock just wants to win every time. Jimmy Howard is the winningest goaltender in the league but Brian Elliot has the lowest goals-against average and is tied for highest save percentage. In fact, it can be convincingly argued that the best, and only clear advantage Detroit had over the Blues last night was a nationally-televised game on Versus. It was absolutely a goalies’ battle last night as both netminders (literally) stood on their heads to keep the scores tight all night long. Each team had plenty of scoring chances, Detroit even only had one more shot on net than St. Louis. Back in the beginning of the season, I failed to jump on the St. Louis bandwagon, while everybody else had picked them to run away with the Central Division. My reasoning was that while the Blues picked up a huge amount of talent in the offseason, there would most definitely be a “period of adjustment,” as the new roster would have to “gel” into a well-oiled machine. Turns out that oil turned out to be Ken Hitchcock, with a little help from Brian Elliot. The predictions ended up being true, but from an unpredictable approach. The Blues have become one of the favorites in the Western Conference and if things keep up, they should be able to make a fairly deep playoff run. I’m not going to predict just yet, but seeing the way they have played recently, they definitely have the stuff. I could probably be shooting myself in the foot here, as a Red Wings fan, but I sure wouldn’t mind seeing these two go at it in the playoffs. The best part is, St. Louis is in the Central Time Zone, not the Pacific. Even if they don’t, realignment next year will certainly put that possibility within reach. …and now for those pesky Blackhawks… I have always loved the Blackhawks and I love watching them play Detroit. They bring out the best in each other. A level and spirit of play that other teams don’t see. I can’t believe the NHL has made me wait THIS LONG to see these two clubs go at it. Detroit has an outstanding opportunity to make a huge move in the Division and the Conference. They won last night. The next two games are against Chicago and St. Louis again. An extra 4 points could put them at the top of the Western Conference, pending the outcome of the Hawks tilts against L.A and Edmonton, two teams which have been known to get under the skin of the Indian Head sweater. I doubt anyone in or around Hockeytown will be satisfied with any less than 5 points from this three-game Central Conference melee. This is a very exciting time to be in the Central Division. Just sayin’…

@Vanflyer: Shanahan wil probably toss Kronner for a game or two, anyway.

Everything balances out in the end, I suppose....

@radoran Point well taken. Sorry I misinterpreted your post. There were a number of team expansion options I was referring to, and again, it's just what I heard. These are not my original ideas. I never expected all of them, or any of them, to actually take off. It's just fun to speculate on the new regional dynamic, should anything occur.

True enough, but then you get that whole international border hassle... I doubt that many current Leafs fans would "jump ship", and I think it would be pretty nice for both teams to have "away" games and still sleep in their own bed that night.

@flyercanuck That's the gamble... A gamble I'd rather not take.

That's probably the biggest benefit for the sport JackStraw, putting the Caps, Pens and Flyers in the same conference. Obviously, the league loves to tout the Crosby/Ovechkin matchup This will give them a few more per season. And NBC will be right along for the ride to pick up the viewership revenue. Sorry for the jab at the Flyers...all in good fun :-)

@phlfly I remember a lot of RUssians playing for Detroit in the 1990s. Big time for the Russian hockey in Detroit. @radoran Hamilton has a lot better shot than Kitchener, granted. But I just know it's been discussed. And if New york can have two teams (hockey, baseball, AND football), then Canada's New York can certainly have two as well. They'd be able to fill both those arena's quite well.

The NHL announced yesterday that for the 2012-2013 season, the teams would be shuffled into a four-conference league. This is a huge win for the Detroit Red Wings organization and for their fans. For years, Mike Ilitch and Company has been yearning for a ticket into the Eastern Conference, and they thought they might have their chance when Atlanta moved north. They now find themselves in the midst of a brand new 8-team conference which includes all of the current Central Division, with the addition of the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild. Living in New Jersey, I was hoping the Wings would get reshuffled into possibly the Atlantic Division, which would get me into a lot more games, but I would have been heartbroken to have to say goodbye to Chicago. I love the Blackhawks, and I love the storied rivalry between the two clubs. I loved the Winter Classic in ’09 and I love the traditional home-and-home series to close out the season. So honestly, I would say this is a better deal. In fact, most of the League’s best rivalries have been preserved. Boston/Montreal, Buffalo/Toronto, Rangers/Devils, Flyers/Everyone else. The interesting shift has been with the Florida teams being moved into the so-called “Northeast” conference, which doesn’t make sense geographically, but it’s still the same time zone. Plus, with so many Canadian retirees who’ve moved to Florida, this is a big chance for them to see their old favorites again on multiple occasions. The other fun fact is that the Pacific and Central conferences are composed of eight teams, and the Northeast and Atlantic Conferences are composed of seven teams, making it “easier” for these teams to make the playoffs. Rumors are spreading that the NHL is allowing room for expansion, particularly in the markets of eastern Canada. Quebec City has been dying for a return of the Nordiques. There’s talk of Toronto getting itself a second team, and cities like Hamilton and Kitchener have been speculated for an expansion team as well. I would love to see more hockey teams in Canada (it’s their sport, after all) so I hope this is what the NHL has in mind. A lot of time and effort has gone into this, yet there is still come question about the future of the Phoenix Coyotes and possibly the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both markets are not doing well financially, and their movement might result in another realignment. Kansas City has demonstrated a desire for a hockey team, so Columbus could move their easy enough. The Coyotes could either move up to Quebec or even Las Vegas if the horrifying scuttlebutt is true. Las Vegas should not have a hockey team…. That’s just absurd, but it would be an easy move to preserve this new 4-Conference setup. Overall, I’m excited for this new shift. It should be a lot of fun! The floor is now open. What say you?

@flyercanuck...Just tossing it out there for discussion, that's all. @radoran...With the new coach, I'm sure the Caps will wait and see what happens. Same is true for the Ducks and 'Canes, for that matter. Any player movement would likey be before the All-Star game, though

Nope. Don't want Semin at all. I'd rather have Zach Parise. He's UFA after this season.

There has been a lot of talk about a possible move of Alexander Semin the last few days with the Detroit Red Wings being one of the top contenders. A few thoughts… Semin hasn’t been in his top form since 2009-2010 where he posted 28 goals and 26 assists. He’s been decent enough this season, with 5 and 5. I haven’t been paying too close attention to the Capitals but obviously, they have been expecting more from him. I don’t know if he’s unhappy in Washington or if he’s dealing with some nagging injury, but either way, the Caps seem to want to move some potentially dead weight and free up a LOT of cap space doing it. The first thing I think of is the Caps will want a decent, scoring forward in return to replace the Top Six winger, but who could/would the Wings part with? I’ve grown to like just about all the current Detroit roster (which is why I could never be a GM) but the two names I can think of are Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula. Now I highly doubt that Filppula would be moved since he’s got the hot hand in Detroit right now, and he’s carved himself a niche. Hudler would be a better choice. He’s in the exact same situation right now, coming off a very poor season last year, and he’s just not producing as much as he should (although the improved effort has been there this season). Hudler’s in a contract year and Ken Holland is going to have to decide to keep him or let him go anyway. Another possibility is Patrick Eaves, who is currently out 2 months with a broken jaw, and has only been replaced by the unproven Fabian Brunnstrom. I also have had a particular dislike of Jonathan Ericsson lately, but the Caps don’t need defensemen, and Detroit does. The other problem is his salary. I doubt very much that Semin would garner his current salary of $6.7 million in Detroit, which would put him equal with Pavel Datsyuk, but above both Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg. If he were, moving Hudler would open up the cap space this season, and also probably send Brunnstrom down to Grand Rapids for good (unless he were moved too, to sweeten the deal. Hell, let ‘em have Mike Commodore too!). The drawback to that is, what if Semin ends up being a lemon in Detroit too? We end up trading a least one forward who’s not scoring for a more expensive forward who’s not scoring. And if he didn’t score in Washington, and didn’t score in Detroit, it might be tough to unload him come the trade deadline. He may only be traded for a few second- or third-liners and draft considerations. Do the Wings even need him at all? They’re near the top of the standings on a six-game win streak. The best benefit that Semin could bring is to further increase the depth of Detroit’s forwards, and also give Datsyuk someone to talk to. Personally, I agree that the Wings should invest in another top six forward, but I don’t think it should be Semin. What say you?